Print & Publication | You Speak Korean!

You Speak Korean! is a four-volume Korean textbook series that was originally published in 2003 that aims to teach Korean language and culture to first and second-year learners. Beginning in 2021, I was asked by the Korean Language Program at the University of Pennsylvania to help construct a website and create illustrations for the textbook series, which would be published on an online, open-source platform. This series is currently in use across several American universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, University of Washington at St. Louis, and Indiana University. My work on this project has also been featured in 34th Street and Penn Gazette publications.

When coming up with an illustration style, I wanted to create something that was playful and inviting—something that would make the learning process just a little more fun. With this, however, I also had to consider the fact that I needed to develop a style that a) looked cohesive across several books and b) be something I could work quickly with, as I needed to create hundreds of illustrations

Something else we really wanted to emphasize through the illustrations was diversity and inclusion. With the popularization of Korean culture and media, the population of Korean language learners across the globe has grown tremendously within the last few years, and we wanted to make sure that every learner felt seen in the textbook.

You Speak Korean!

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Yune Kim